SCI head office transfer: the complete guide

As the company evolves, the managing director may need to change the address of the registered office for a variety of reasons. For all types of company, this change of registered address necessarily entails a number of formalities.

The SCI (Société Civile Immobilière) is no exception to the rule, and its particular legal form calls for a clarification of the procedure to be followed.

What is an SCI?

However, the little-known term SCI holds an important place in the world of entrepreneurship, accounting for a third of all businesses created.

By definition, an SCI is a company whose main purpose is to carry out real estate-related projects. An SCI may only be set up to purchase and dispose of real estate, and excludes any commercial activity.

In concrete terms, it will be impossible to buy an apartment for the sole purpose of reselling it later.

At least two people, natural or legal, are required to create this type of structure.

Like most businesses, SCI requires the drafting of articles of association, a share capital and the establishment of a registered office. SCI also enables you to separate your personal assets from your business.

The steps involved in transferring the registered office of an SCI

When the manager of a non-trading property company (SCI) wishes to transfer its registered office, there are several steps to follow:

The decision to transfer

Transferring your registered office is not a decision you can take on your own. In fact, this choice is in the hands of an Extraordinary General Meeting, which must be approved by a majority vote of all associates.

In theory, this decision is recorded in the company's Articles of Association, and can only be overridden in the event of a unanimous vote.

Updating the bylaws

Once the decision to transfer the registered office has been taken, the articles of association must be updated to replace the old address with the new one.

When filing a change of address application with the CFE (Centre de Formalités des Entreprises), it is essential to provide a copy of the updated articles of association, certified by the legal representative.

Publication of the notice in a legal gazette

To make the change to your registered office official, you must publish a notice of transfer in a legal gazette.

Depending on the location of your company's new registered office address, the formalities to be completed will vary in length. There are two possible scenarios: the transfer takes place in the same département, or in a neighbouring département.

• In the case of a transfer within the same department A single notice must be distributed, and must include the following information:
  • Designation of registered office
  • Company logo
  • The company's legal form
  • The amount of share capital
  • New head office address
  • Indication of the company's unique identification number
  • The indication RCS, together with the town where the registry is located, and the RCS where the structure is established.
     
• In the case of a transfer to another département: the notice must be published not only in the legal gazette of the company's former département, but also in the JAL of the new département. The information to be included in these two notices will be the same as for a change of domicile in the same département. The only additional information required is the first name, surname and home address of the company's managing director.

Expenses

Changing the registered office of an SCI is far from free, so it's important to factor in fixed and administrative costs.

First of all, the cost of registration is €198.64 (incl. VAT) if you transfer your registered office to the same département, compared with €246.86 (incl. VAT) for a neighbouring département.

You'll also need to add the cost of legal announcements to the bill, with a price range of between €200 and €300 for an advertisement without a change of registry, and between €400 and €600 for an advertisement with a change of registry.

In certain cases, it is necessary to call on the services of a chartered accountant or a lawyer.

This service will cost you between €500 and €1,000 incl. VAT.

These are the official rates for 2016, we invite you to make sure you are aware of any upgrades to these costs.

Conclusion

So, before changing the registered office of your SCI, it's important to think carefully before embarking on this journey of procedures and relatively high costs.

Once the decision has been made, it is entirely possible to carry out this modification independently to reduce the overall cost of the bill.

But calling on the services of a chartered accountant or a formalist will ensure that you make this change more serenely.